Backscatter communication offers the potential for significant energy savings compared to conventional wireless links such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, WiFi, etc. However, backscatter communication requires the presence of a carrier source in the environment at an appropriate frequency. If such a carrier source is not available in the environment, backscatter communication may not be practical. It is thus desirable to provide a radio frequency communication device with the option to use either backscatter communication, or non-backscatter communication. Such a device could take advantage of the significant energy savings of backscatter communication when a carrier source is available in the environment, while still retaining the ability to communicate when no carrier source is available in the environment.